Inspired to Serve the Underserved

Foundation Board Member George Savage, M.D., Aims to Lift Others With the Power of Education

By Gina Oltman

When Livingston Community Health patients receive excellent care from Dr. George Savage, they might be inclined to say a prayer of gratitude to his Jamaican grandmother.

Had she not died nearly 27 years ago of cervical cancer, Savage might be practicing a specialty other than obstetrics and gynecology.

“She was an immigrant, and she didn’t get care because she was uninsured and couldn’t afford it,” he said. “She didn’t have to die. She had a treatable GYN issue that worsened due to poor access to health care.”

The heart-breaking loss inspired Savage, a pre-med undergraduate student at the time, to commit to the OB/GYN field. He now practices at Livingston Community Health because he is dedicated to treating underserved patients much like his grandmother.

“This is an FQHC (Federally Qualified Health Center) for underinsured and uninsured patients, and these are the patients I prefer to work with,” he said. “They need physicians. They need somebody to help them. They just want good care, and they are grateful for it. That is why I’m here.”

Savage is one of the newest members of the Stanislaus State Foundation Board of Directors, which works to secure private support to supplement the services and funding provided by the state to students, staff and faculty at the University.

A board member since July 2023, Savage believes the role suits him well, and he’s eager to help students improve their lives and their communities.

“I am big on education because it is a way to most assuredly escape generational curses or whatever circumstances a person might have,” he said. “Whatever career path you want to take, education will lift you. Higher learning allows everyone to better themselves, whether that be economically or by helping you be a more knowledgeable, well-rounded person.”

Savage knows a lot about the power of education to lift a person because he has experienced it. A native of Jamaica, he immigrated to the United States as a teenager and settled with his family in New York City’s Bronx borough during a period of urban decay and increasing crime. After high school, he joined the U.S. Marines and eventually moved to a place he found much more pleasant.

“I was stationed in California, and I never left. It’s my favorite state in the Union,” he said.

After his stint in the Marines, he enrolled as an undergraduate at UC Santa Barbara. Medicine was one of the careers he was considering. When he found himself doing exceptionally well in an organic chemistry class, his choice to become a physician solidified. He started preparing for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) to pursue a career as a doctor.

“At that point, maybe I was a little naïve to think that I was going to be a doctor,” he said. “The road ahead of me was long. I was facing a lot of education and other hurdles, but I moved forward.”

As an undergraduate, he earned a research scholarship from pharmaceutical leader Merck and did research for them for several years. As a graduate student, the next stop on his educational journey was Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C., where he earned his medical degree in 2001.

Now a resident of Stockton, Savage is the father of three daughters and a son who is attending Stan State and preparing to take the MCAT. He is married to Stockton physician Kelly Savage.

While relatively new to the Foundation Board, Savage is no stranger to supporting education through philanthropy. Over the years, he’s paid tuition fees and purchased books for more than 60 public school students enrolled in the Jamaican middle school he attended years ago.

He has helped an underserved high school in Stockton by donating eight sets of golf clubs to its golf team, and he has also donated seven Apple laptop computers to Stan State Women’s Basketball for students who needed them.

“I had my two youngest daughters present the computers because I wanted to teach them to be supportive of women and women’s sports in particular,” said Savage. “And to just give them the sense of how good it feels to care for somebody else that you can help.”

While Savage is very concerned about unmet medical needs and other health issues in the Central Valley, he’s quick to point out that his interests at Stan State are broad, and he hopes his work on the board will enhance all areas of study on the University campus.

“Everybody is needed for our society to survive and succeed,” he said. “We don’t just need nurses and doctors, we need businesspeople, farmers, computer scientists, engineers, lawyers, civil servants and tradespeople.

“We need everybody in their roles because that is what it takes for a civilized society to function optimally.”